


A Wayward Presence

by MashiarasDream



Series: Yours!verse [13]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alpha!Balthazar, Alpha!Cain, Alpha!Eileen, Alpha!Ezekiel, Alpha!Sam, Fluff, It's Dean's birthday, M/M, Omega!Gabriel, So many babies, Surprises, Travel, a/b/o dynamics, alpha!cas, established relationships - Freeform, omega!dean, time stamp 12 for yours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 15:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9826400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MashiarasDream/pseuds/MashiarasDream
Summary: Cas “surprises” Dean with a weekend trip for Dean’s birthday. But while the trip itself might not be an actual surprise, the element of surprise does follow them. Actually, it tries to steal Cas’ wallet.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to come out on Dean’s birthday but then my mental health took a turn to the worse and I missed my deadline. On the plus side, the story exists at all and right now I’m taking that as a victory. 
> 
> Thank you to WatchingOne for betaing!
> 
> Kudos to everyone who finds the obscure one-word Buffy reference!

“Now I know that you hate surprises…”

“Uh-oh.”

“…which is why I’m _not_ trying to surprise you,” Cas continues undisturbed by Dean’s interruption.

“With what?” Dean asks.

“This.” Cas hands him a few glossy brochures.

“An underground waterfall?” Dean frowns. Visiting natural landmarks was one of their favorites when going on daytrips before the pups were born but it’s been a while. And it’s winter. And they have pups. He doubts that the little ones are up for this yet. Teeth are much higher on their priority list than the wonders of nature. Though Mary would probably enjoy it.

“I know it’s not much,” Cas says. “But it’s close enough that we can get there and back in a day if we need to. And it’s underground, so it’s open all year, independently of the weather. I booked a room at a nice hotel nearby and a table for two for dinner.” His voice gets ever quieter, the further along he gets in his speech. Finally, he bites his lip and shuts up, though his eyes have turned big and round and pleading.

It clicks for Dean then. “For my birthday,” he understands. “As a date.”

Cas nods. “It’s the weekend. Sam and Eileen are more than capable of caring for the pups for 24 hours. And we haven’t had any time to ourselves in – forever.”

“You really want to leave the pups here?” Dean asks.

Cas sighs, the hopeful expression on his face starting to crumble. “Is it horrible if I say yes?”

“It’s just – they’re still so small. And Mary is –“

“I know,” Cas interrupts. “I know all of that. But it’s only 24 hours. That they’ll spend with very competent babysitters who know them very well. And after the shit-show that was Christmas, I think that we’ve earned a break.”

It’s the closest to whining – or begging – that Dean has ever seen Cas come. And he can’t very well argue against the Christmas comment. “It wasn’t _that_ bad,” he mumbles halfheartedly.

“You were _glad_ when the pups caught that cold because it gave you a reason to flee,” Cas reminds him.

“Okay, _I_ wasn’t that bad,” Dean corrects his words. “I took part in most of everything.”

“Most of everything being,” Cas starts counting on his fingers, “The pups were sick, Sam was not talking, Eileen wasn’t here to help, Gabe and Bal were fighting, Cain didn’t show – do I need to go on?”

“No, you can stop, it’s not like I don’t remember,” Dean gives in.

Because yeah, despite all of their good intentions, Christmas _had_ been a shit-show.

Starting with the day when Eileen left to spend Christmas with her family, he thinks. From that moment on everything seemed to go wrong.

First, Cain had cancelled the visit that he’d finally agreed to. Dean’s still regretting sending Cain a cellphone in advance of Christmas, seeing how Cain had figured the texting function out well enough within days to type that he wouldn’t make it after all and subsequently declined all of Dean’s calls so that it was impossible to figure out what had happened.

So Dean had already not been in a great mood for their annual formal dinner. A mood that wasn’t helped by the fact that Gabe and Bal had obviously had a fight prior to coming over.

Gabe had been extra loud and obnoxious, reeking of passive-aggressiveness, while Bal was quietly glowering. It was not a good mixture. Dean had tried to corner Gabe but Gabe had successfully avoided him. In the end, he’d had to ask Bal what all of this was about but didn’t get more than a curt “Ezekiel – what else is it ever?” out of him.

Dean hadn’t known anything much to say to that. While it was hyperbole, it wasn’t far from the truth. Gabe insisted that there was nothing going on between him and the Alpha. That he was helping Ezekiel through a “rough time” in his life but couldn’t say more without betraying his trust.

Dean wanted to believe Gabe. Because Gabe was his friend and because he knew that Gabe loved Bal and because he’d always experienced Gabe as loyal. Brutally honest maybe but true in every sense of the word.

And yet. He watched Gabe’s and Bal’s relationship get more strained with every passing week. He watched them bicker and finally blow up at each other even in company. It was not pretty. Not whenever Gabe grudgingly submitted to his mate, not when he didn’t and Bal stormed off.

Christmas had unsurprisingly added an extra layer of tension and yes, Dean hadn’t necessarily been unhappy that he was going to miss church when Mary had gotten whiny and grumpy and it turned out that she had developed a temperature. Which the other pups had of course developed in the next few hours as well.

So Dean had moved Deanie’s bed to the nursery with the others and then had converted the couch to a bed and had ordered Sam to help.

Which was the right call, Dean thinks because Sam had turned ever paler, the longer dinner had lasted. The chair next to him hadn’t been empty but it might as well have been, it was that palpable how much Jess was missing. And yeah, the year before they had been happy and hopeful and it was unbearable that she was gone.

So it was good that calming down the pups, checking their temperature, keeping them safe, gave Sam purpose without forcing him to talk. He was diligent, and by now he had as much practice as Dean. They worked as a unit, between them handling four crying pups without a hitch, never raising their voices louder than humming a calming tune or whispering sweet words of comfort.

The twins surprisingly shook off the bug faster than the other two, so Dean left his daughter in his brother’s care in the morning, promising her to come get her when it was time for presents, and took the twins to the Christmas party.

It was exhausting to say the least. Gabe and Bal didn’t even show, so Dean was worrying about them on top of everything else. Cain finally called back but Dean had no time to talk, too many pups and guests demanding his attention.

At the end of the day, Dean had been dead on his feet and fallen into bed with his clothes still on because he was too tired to even undress.

All in all, they had still juggled the whole affair as well as could be expected under the circumstances but Dean had had enough of humans and drama for a while.

So yeah, Dean can’t really argue about wanting a break. And getting some alone-time with his mate? Yeah, that would be awesome.  It’s only that they haven’t left the twins alone yet. Not longer than the few hours a school board meeting or a doctor’s visit takes anyway, and even then, Dean gets nervous. Cas does, too, when he has to leave the pups in anyone’s care but Dean’s. Dean knows it without Cas ever outright stating it.  

“There’s just so much that could go wrong,” Dean says. “Pups might not like it if we’re both not here. The little ones are whiney anyway, what with the teeth coming. And yeah, Sam and Eileen know how to take care of them but who knows whether they’re even going to fall sleep without you or me being here.”

“Mary’s fine when Eileen is around. And I’m sure Bal and Gabe would come over for a few hours and amuse her if that helps. And Rob and Ben fall asleep without any problems when the school board meeting takes longer than planned and Sam has to put them to bed,” Cas points out.

“That was only twice!” Dean argues.

“And they fell asleep just fine both times,” Cas repeats.

“What about everything else then? What about security?” Dean asks because for all that the pack is outwardly back to normal, he knows that everyone is still on high alert.

“Michael is still in California, according to both Bobby and Charlie. By now he undoubtedly knows that we’re keeping tabs on him,” Cas answers.

“Is that a good thing?” Dean asks.

“I don’t know,” Cas shakes his head. “But it means that he’ll be careful. I can’t imagine that he would manage to do anything within a day. And remember, this is a surprise trip. No one we don’t trust 100% will know about it beforehand. So Michael would have to get the info and act on it within 24 hours.”

The fact that Cas’ scent is turning muddy and opaque at the mention of his brother does nothing to calm the anxious roiling in Dean’s stomach.

Cas takes Dean’s hand then, his warmth giving comfort where his scent cannot. “We don’t have to go, Dean. I know it’s a lot to ask. To be quite honest, it’s asking a lot of me as well. This is why I didn’t want to surprise you. You get to say No to this if you don’t want to go.” His smile deepens, and his scent so full of love that Dean gets dizzy. “We can always go to the Cake & Pie for a coffee date instead. Or we can stay here and have a lovely day with the pups. As long as we’re together, it’s going to be perfect.”

Dean can’t help it, his face splits into fond smile, the anxiety in his stomach dissolving into butterflies. “You’re such a sap, Cas.” He leans in to give him a soft kiss before he makes his decision. “You know that I’m going to call home about every twenty minutes to make sure everything is okay, right?”

Cas’ eyes widen. “I wouldn’t expect any different. I want to know they’re safe as well.”

“Then yes, Cas. Yes, I’d love to spend a weekend just with you and about a thousand phone calls home.”

Cas chuckles. “I’ll have to research whether there’s cellphone reception in the caves. That might prove to be difficult and the guided tour is longer than twenty minutes. So you’d have to make do for that. Because it would kind of defeat the purpose of a date if I went in there alone while you’re on the phone.”

That makes Dean chuckle, too. “Like I’d let you out of my sight, little Alpha. Especially in a place that’s romantic.”

Though to tell the truth, Dean isn’t exactly sure what the romantic part of a guided tour to an underground waterfall in January is. Sounds wet and cold and slippery to him. But Cas’ face lights up so the white lie is well worth it.

“So,” Cas says, “if I surprised you with this on Saturday morning, you’d come with me?”

“I’d incidentally have my bags packed already,” Dean nods solemnly but can’t keep the straight face when Cas throws himself at him to kiss him silly.

 

Dean regrets his decision that a trip will be okay in equal degrees as he looks forward to the stupid thing. All three of their pups are clingier than normal, even Mary, who is currently happy to prove her independence by trying to find ways to slip through their legs and go adventuring in the house on her own. She’s eerily good at getting into spaces she’s not supposed to be in.

But in the days leading up to the trip, all she does is cling to Dean’s legs and want to help with the babies. Dean’s not sure whether it’s his own mood projecting onto her but there isn’t much he can do about it.

“You sure you want to do this?” Sam asks him the afternoon before they’re scheduled to leave when Dean has somehow managed to have all three pups stacked on his lap on the couch. “Cause you know, I appreciate it when Cas and you get some playtime so that you’re less grumpy but…” He waves at the display of pups on Dean.

“Well, we’ll only be a few hours out,” Dean sighs. “And I’m pretty sure you and Eileen will have everything under control. I mean, you do when we’re in meetings at the school and stuff.”

“Apropos school board, have you told Gabe yet?”

“Smooth, Sam, smooth,” Dean scoffs.

Sam shrugs. “He’s your best friend, man. Or he was.”

“Yeah,” Dean turns his head away. “Was.”

“Ouch. Sorry,” Sam says and sits down on the couch table.

“You seriously want to talk about this now?” Dean complains.

“Yes,” Sam nods. “Because it’s your birthday on Sunday and you want your best friend to be happy with you.”

“Yeah, but he won’t be, so there is nothing to talk about.”

“Why?”

Dean shrugs. He points towards the pups without saying anything. Who knows what their subconscious already understands. He doesn’t want them to think that their Uncle Gabe doesn’t love them. “It’s either that or it’s got something to do with _Ezekiel_.”

“Yeah, what is that about anyway?”

“No idea. He says he can’t tell me without ‘betraying Ezekiel’s trust’.” Dean shrugs, though he doesn’t fight too hard to keep the hurt out of his voice or scent. Gabe has been his best friend for years. And he’s pretty much disappeared without any explanation. Dean is not a fan of that.

“So you’re not going to tell him? About the trip I mean?”

“It’s a surprise, Sammy. I know nothing. So I can’t tell him anything.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “You’re stubborn as a mule, anyone ever tell you that?”

“Yeah,” Dean nods. “You do. My mate might have said something to that effect a few times as well. Eileen might have, too. But with her, I can pretend that I don’t understand it.”

Sam laughs. It’s warm and fond. “She knows when you’re faking, you know? She doesn’t call you out on it but she can tell. You’re easy to read, dude.”

“Nonsense. I’m as mysterious as they come.” Dean puffs himself up even though his smile turns soft as well. It’s good to hear Sam laugh.

“Right, whatever you need to tell yourself,” Sam chuckles. “You want me to help you get the critters to bed?”

“Nah,” Dean shakes his head, “I’ll enjoy my limbs falling asleep from their weight while I can.”

“Melodramatic much?” Sam rolls his eyes. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” When he’s already at the door he turns back. “Call Gabe. Tell him.”

But Dean doesn’t. Instead, he spends an uneasy night thinking about whether he’s packed everything he needs and whether he’s prepared everything the pups need. Not that Sam and Eileen don’t know where everything is anyway, but still.

Sometime, an hour or two after he’s supposed to have fallen asleep, Cas not too subtly grabs him around the waist and pulls him close until Dean gives in and curls up to be the little spoon.

“Sleep, silly mate,” Cas growls in his ear.

He’s right of course, they have six hours maybe if they’re lucky, and since the pups are getting bottles now, there is no way around getting up and going to the kitchen when they get hungry.

Dean settles into Cas’ warmth and does his best to sleep.

 

They’ve explained it to Mary, that they’re going to be gone for a little longer than when they’re at school for an afternoon and that Sam and Eileen are going to put her to bed tonight.

She’s nodded and declared that fine as long as her fire truck and her plush turtle can stay in her bed with her. But now that she sees their packed overnight bag getting loaded into the car, her eyes are filling with tears.

Dean lets Cas handle the bags and comes back to kneel next to his daughter and hug her tight. “We’ll be back tomorrow, Sunshine,” he comforts her. “It’s only one little night. You can play with Eileen and help Sam with Deanie, you’ll hardly notice we’re gone.”

But she throws her arms around his neck and sobs “Dada” into his shirt.

“Shh, little monkey, it’s okay,” Dean rubs her back, trying desperately to calm himself down so his scent will calm her down before she wakes up the twins. They’ll have a triple scream fest at their hands if she does.

Cas is back then, radiating calm and comfort, even though Dean can see it in every line of his body that he’s as tense as Dean. “Come on, Mary, we’re going to let Dada say goodbye to the Rob and Ben now, okay? And then he’ll come back to say goodbye to you.” He loosens her grip around Dean and swoops her up into his arms. “What do you say?”

“No!” she whines angrily.

“Oh little Sunshine, I know,” Cas hugs her tight and kisses her cheek, which promptly makes her hide her face in his neck. 

Dean knows he shouldn’t stretch out the goodbyes unnecessarily long but he still bends down to press a kiss into his daughter’s hair before going over to where the babies are sleeping in their stroller. “You be good, guys, alright?” he whispers. Rob is moving uneasily in his sleep, accidentally hitting his brother, who immediately starts to squirm, too.

They need to get going. The twins are used to Sam and Eileen, and if they wake up only after the teary goodbyes are over, Dean has little doubt that everything will be fine with these two.

Unlike with his daughter, who is still pouting in the arms of her Alpha-Daddy.

“You wanna say goodbye to the twins, too? You should hurry, though, they’re about this close to waking up,” Dean says.

“I already said my goodbyes,” Cas shakes his head. “Also, I think if I give this little monkey back to you, we might end up not going.”

The assessment is not completely wrong. So Dean hugs both his mate and his daughter in one big bear-hug. “You take care of the fire department for me, okay, Mary? That big block tower needs some good fire control.”

Mary doesn’t look up at him, her face still buried in Cas’ shoulder, and it almost breaks Dean’s heart, no matter that he knows that she’s going to be well taken care of and that they’re going to be back in a day.

“Okay, monkey, off to Eileen you go,” Cas says.

Dean decides it’s safer if he doesn’t watch the exchange and instead goes to his brother. He’s got Deanie in his arms, so Dean pats Deanie’s hair before saying, “Thank you for doing this.”

It’s starting to get so engrained that he only notices that he’s also signing it when Sam answers with a smile and an awkward one handed attempt to sign back. Finally, he gives up and says, “No worries, man. No worries about the rest of the household, either. We’re going to manage.”

“Hannah is going to throw a fit,” Dean predicts.

“Hey, it was a surprise. No possible way you could have told her, right?” Sam grins.

“I’m going to hold on to that story until my dying days,” Dean snorts.

“Dean, we better go,” Cas puts a hand on Dean’s arm.

And yeah, Mary is crying and kicking in Eileen’s arms now and from experience, the tantrum won’t stop until they are gone and there are toys to distract her.

“Okay,” Dean nods. “You call me the minute you think we should get back, okay? And you keep your phone on you, Moose. I warn you, I’m going to check in every half hour and I want detailed updates!”

“Go, Dean,” Sam laughs and pushes him towards the car. “Otherwise you’re never going to even need to call.”

 

It’s quiet in the car for the first twenty minutes or so. Dean has stopped turning back and looking back towards their house after the first ten but Cas still glances in the rearview mirror more often than is strictly necessary for safe driving.

“This is weird,” Cas fidgets uncomfortably in the driver’s seat. It reminds Dean of Ben when he’s squirming in his crib.

“Yeah,” he nods, “no kidding. It’s been like half an hour and no one has drooled on my shirt yet.”

That makes Cas chuckle. “Would you like me to drool on your shirt, Dean?”

“Eww, no, thanks man, not one of my kinks.”

They both laugh, if a little half-heartedly.

Dean’s phone dings.

He swipes to find a new message from Sam.

_Sammy: All is quiet on the Western front._

It’s got a picture attached that shows Mary deeply engrossed in trying to puzzle out the color and shape recognition puzzle that Ellen got her for Christmas.

“Hey, look at that,” Dean holds out the phone so Cas can see the screen. “Looks like things have calmed down.”

Cas visibly relaxes when he sees the photo, his smile deepening into something real.

“The big bad Alpha is not completely unaffected by this, huh?” Dean teases him.

Cas hums noncommittally and concentrates back on the road.

“Come on, Alpha, you can tell me.” Dean pokes him in the side.

Cas wriggles to get away but he breaks. “I miss them already,” he mutters, and Dean thinks that might be a blush creeping up the side of Cas’ neck.

“Yeah, me too,” he agrees and puts his hand on Cas’ knee. “And I think it’s a parent-thing, not an Omega-Dad-thing. So you’re totally allowed.”

Cas’ blush intensifies but he nods. “I know. It was just that, I wanted alone-time with you. I still want alone-time with you. And I know you were nervous and unhappy about this, and if I’d told you how nervous exactly I also am about this…” He shrugs.

“Then we might not have gone. I know, Cas,” Dean answers and squeezes Cas’ leg. “Thanks, little Alpha. I appreciate it. But you know you don’t have to, right? You can always be who you are when you’re with me.”

It’s always been Dean who blushes easier but right this second Cas’ blush doesn’t want to go away. He ducks his head almost shyly but his scent is warm and sweet. “I know. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Cas.”

 

They’re a little less anxious after that. Dean turns on the radio and finds a station that they both like well enough to sing along with it. Cas sings quietly and off-key, while Dean tries to encourage him to belt loudly and off-key like he does. It turns into a mini-debate of whether Dean can sing well or not (Cas insists, Dean doesn’t think so), which they finally decide to postpone until they’re back at the pack and can get more votes from their pack members.

Right on schedule, half an hour after the first message, the next picture comes through, this time showing the twins getting fed. Ben has his face scrunched up while Rob seems more peaceful. All in all, it looks like the Moose and Eileen have everything under control.

_Sammy: You want to pic of the diaper content, too?_

_Dean: No thanks, I can imagine it. Pic of Deanie?_

A minute later a short video of Deanie comes through, who is doing his best to crawl forward while keeping his stuffed lion in his hand. He looks slightly frustrated at his unsuccessful attempts and finally leaves the lion behind. But still, it’s obvious that his motor skills are improving day by day.

_Dean: Go get them, tiger – lion – whatever._

_Sammy: It’s a safari. Also: Tell Gabe._

Dean groans. But he guesses that this is his last chance to be the one telling Gabe before he hears it from someone else in the pack. So he sends a quick text.

_Dean: On our way to Emerald Falls. Birthday surprise._

He doesn’t really expect to hear anything back, so he leans back in his seat.

“Everything alright?” Cas asks, worry in his voice. “Are the pups alright?”

“What? Yeah, they are great.”

“Your scent turned sour,” Cas points out.

“Cause I was writing Gabe,” Dean sighs.

“Oh,” Cas says but apparently knows nothing else to say to this, either.

“Yeah,” Dean grouses and leans against the car window, suddenly morose.

“He’ll come around,” Cas says.

It’s a feeble attempt at making him feel better and they both know it.

“It’s just that I thought –“, Dean breaks off. He hasn’t had the heart to talk about this before. It’s easy enough normally to distract himself. The pups are an endless source of both joy and work after all. Only now, the pups aren’t here. “I thought that he’d come to me, you know? I mean he told me about the  - about his diagnosis before he ever told Bal. So I thought if there was something wrong between them, or if there was something up, he’d come to me. Guess I was wrong.”

It hurts more than he wants to admit even if a part of this is his own fault. He’s not had that many close friends in his life, and Gabe is the only other Omega among them. He’s never noticed how much he’d come to rely on that before Ezekiel showed up and their friendship got a crack. He’d tried to sort that out but suddenly whenever he met up with Gabe, Ezekiel had been there as well, asking nosy questions and trying to insert himself in their friendship. Dean had tried to tolerate the guy for Gabe’s sake but something made his hackles raise. So in the end, visits to Gabe got less until they virtually disappeared.

“It’ll peter off, the thing with Ezekiel. Whatever it is,” Cas cuts into his thoughts but his scent is dark and full of swamps and marshland. He is more worried than he wants to let on.

“Did you talk to Bal?” Dean asks.

“It’s not my place,” Cas shakes his head. “You know he’d take it as meddling by the pack-Alpha, not as worry from a friend.”

“Guess you’re right,” Dean sighs but he still wishes there was a way. “Should I try to talk to him?”

It would be inappropriate, obviously. He shouldn’t be talking alone with any Alphas other than Cas or Sam. Even Eileen is stretching it but she’s chosen one of the most non-Alpha professions imaginable, so as their nanny she’s a bit of an exception. Any other Alphas, though, Dean should not be approaching.

“Do you think it would help? Or would it undermine Gabe’s trust?” Cas asks.

“I wish I knew, man.” He smiles, though, because it’s nice that Cas’ first thoughts go towards the practicality of things, not their appropriateness.

Just then, Dean’s phone dings.

_Candy man: With the pups?_

“He answered,” Dean says surprised.

“Well, that’s a start,” Cas says.

_Dean: Without. Sam and Eileen are babysitting._

After a moment’s consideration, he adds:

_Dean: They’d be happy if there was additional entertainment, I’m sure. In case you and Bal wanted to drop by._

_Candy man: You sucking Cassie off already?_

The deflection is so crude that Dean doesn’t really know what to answer. He settles on:

_Dean: Careful or I’ll send you a pic._

It feels wrong somehow, though it is similar to the kind of banter that used to be standard for them. But now, there’s an underlying tension that lets the jokes fall flat.

_Candy man: Just don’t get arrested for public indecency._

Dean almost answers something snide about how Gabe would not even notice if Dean got arrested, seeing how often they see each other, but he lets it be.

“You’re way too much of a good influence,” he sighs.

Cas raises his eyebrows in question.

“All that consideration and care and kindness… I don’t even have it in me to snap at him via text.”

Cas chuckles softly. “Pretty sure he’d have a few choice words about me that describe me differently.”

“Nah,” Dean shakes his head. “He bitches and moans where you can hear but he’d defend you to his last breath with anyone else.”

Cas gives him a half-smile for that, though it is somewhat pained.  

“I know,” Dean says. “I know, Cas. I wish it was easier, too.”

That Alphas and Omegas could just be friends, without the limitations that society placed on them. That Alpha-brothers and Alpha-mates wouldn’t be naturally suspicious of each other. That power dynamics wouldn’t govern every single interaction. Above all, he wishes that Gabriel would never have had to go through everything that his older brothers did to him, so that it’d be easier for him to fully trust Cas. He thinks then what Cas wishes for – that he could be Gabe’s friend and Gabe would confide in him and they could share secrets like they did as pups – might have worked out.

As it is, Gabe loves Cas but he also keeps his distance. Dean’s always thought it was because of Bal. That Gabe made it a point not to get close to any other Alpha. Well, that theory is out of the window now.

Dean leans over into his mate’s space as well as is possible in this frikking car with the center console, laying his head on Cas’ shoulder for a moment.

“It’ll be okay,” he echoes what Cas had said before.

 

They make it to their destination an hour later. Cas insists on checking into their hotel first, so they do. It’s not the most luxurious ever but it’s not a motel, either. It’s nice and comfortable and clean. They’ve got two queen beds in their room, which is totally unnecessary, but hey, one bed for luggage storage.

Dean tests the give of the bed immediately. It’s not memory foam but it’s firm enough. It’ll withstand whatever interesting ideas they’ll have later.

“They’re supposed to have the best breakfast buffet in the area. I thought since we probably won’t stay for the birthday dinner, we could at least get a birthday breakfast,” Cas says.

“You researched hotels for the best breakfast?” Dean asks incredulously.

“Umm, well, I asked Hannah to do it,” Cas admits sheepishly. “But the idea was mine?”

Dean laughs, surprisingly touched by both the idea and the sheepish look on Cas’ face. “Okay, I’ll count the thought.”

Cas looks at him intently, stares at him actually. Dean raises his eyebrows at him.

“Maybe it’s better if you don’t sit on the bed,” Cas mutters.

“Seriously?” Dean chuckles.

“We’re gonna miss the tour! We have tickets for the lunch group!” Cas whines.

“Yeah, I know,” Dean nods. “Just let me get that straight, we’ve been married for like four years, we have three pups, and you can’t keep your fingers off me because I’m sitting on a bed fully clothed?”

Cas blushes and mumbles something inaudible.

Dean smirks. “I didn’t hear that, Cas. Wanna repeat it for me?”

“I said that you are very attractive, Dean,” Cas huffs. “That’s hardly my fault.”

Dean shakes his head with a fond smile. “You’re so fucking cute, little Alpha. Come and kiss me?”

And of course Cas can’t resist that request.

 

By the time they make it out of their hotel room, it has started raining. It’s a cold icky drizzle and Dean puts his collar up and hides his hands in his pockets as he follows Cas to where the tour starts. There’s a small clump of people waiting already. Dean guesses it’s a popular sightseeing location in summer but they’re so far out of season that there aren’t even more than a couple of tours per day. And by the looks of it, those aren’t fully booked, either. Or at least the early tour isn’t.

Apart from them, there’s a family with two cranky pups, a few senior citizens, and two couples that talk in a language that Dean doesn’t understand. German, maybe. Tourists, definitely. He stays behind Cas, who keeps a little to the side, apparently not keen on interacting with anyone, either.

The entrance to the tour is already a cave, so even with the lighting it’s dark and compared to outside it’s downright cozy. Dean uses that fact and sidles up close enough that his chest is pressed to Cas’ back. Cas leans into him in turn, leaning his head against Dean’s.

“Newlyweds, huh?” A voice pipes up next to them.

It’s one of the older ladies, though her voice doesn’t have the disapproving resonance that Dean’s gotten used to when interacting with older and more conservative folks.

“No, Ma’am,” Cas answers, straightening away only a tiny bit, “actually not. We’ve been married for a few years now.”

“Eh,” she snorts, “that’s still newlywed. My Hank and I, we’re in year 35.”

Dean notices the man who’s been half hidden behind her only now. The man smiles and nods at him when he notices Dean’s gaze, though he stays silent.

“Well, good for you. We’re hoping to have the same luck to grow old together,” Cas says congenially.

“Ah, you just keep taking good care of each other and you will,” the woman smiles.

“We will do our best, Ma’am,” Cas smiles back and openly leans into Dean’s touch again.

Dean hides his face against Cas’ neck for a moment, nuzzling into him, but he’s smiling as well because the woman addressed them as taking care of each other instead of referring to Dean as Cas’ property. Feels good to be included in the conversation, however tacitly.

They don’t get to answer, though, because their tour guide arrives and the tour starts.

Cas keeps to the back of the group, giving them as much privacy as he can under the circumstances. It’s still not really Dean’s idea of romantic, seeing how those stalagmites and stalactites came about because it’s dripping fucking everywhere but being able to snuggle up to his mate is definitely a perk. And Dean’s got to admit that the organizers did their best with this thing, lighting the caves up and giving names to all the weird natural calcite statues.

Then suddenly at the turn of a corner, the lighting changes from soft tones to intense blues and greens and the rushing of water becomes audible. Another turn, and the cave opens up to a tall dome, the famous waterfall crashing down in the middle of it. There are _ahs_ and _ohs_ from the group and any cell phone that had been packed away comes out to make pictures. Dean tries to resist the temptation but obviously he has to make at least a few pictures as well.

“Want me to take a photo of the two of you?” The lady from before asks.

“Umm,” Dean’s eyes flit up to hers for a second, caught cold by being addressed this suddenly. “If the light’s good enough, sure, why not. Cas?”

“It’s worth the try,” Cas smiles.

“Well then, go stand in front of the waterfall,” the lady says and carefully takes Dean’s cell phone when he hands it to her.

“You have to press this button,” Dean explains, making sure to keep out of her space and keep his eyes low.

“I know how a smartphone works, young man. Now go to your mate.”

It’s softly chiding, no malice behind it, so Dean chuckles and obeys.

There’s a moment of indecision when he reaches Cas. Most of their photos where they’re both in the picture have been taken at home, no thought given to propriety. Now Dean looks at Cas for guidance because he’s not really sure what is appropriate in this case.

“Oh for goodness’ sake!” The old lady shakes her head. “Just do what you did the whole time anyway.”

That’s not a bad plan, actually, so Dean positions himself behind Cas but close enough that they’re touching.

“Now put your arm around your mate’s waist,” the lady instructs.

“What?” Dean stutters.

“We want to see in the picture that you’re in love, right? So do it. And smile!”

Dean sends a confused look to Cas.

Cas looks back at him with a shrug and a smile, and mumbles, “In my experience, it’s better to do what old ladies tell you to do.”

“Yeah, like you don’t like being borderline indecent all on your own,” Dean snorts, and Cas grins and Dean grins back and then Cas leans back to give Dean a kiss on the cheek and Dean is probably blushing but he doesn’t care because Cas’ scent is full of love and he’s his mate and his best friend and the father of his pups and Dean’s so lucky that he thinks his heart might burst with happiness.

“That’s what I was talking about,” the lady cackles. “Memories to scandalize the priest and have the children make gagging noises.”

She’s still chuckling when she hands his phone back to Dean.

“Thank you,” he mumbles.

“You’re welcome,” she smiles.

“Do you want us to take a picture of the two of you, too?” Cas asks.

“Ah no, it’s not necessary. We’re too old to look good in pictures.”

“Never. Love always shines through,” Cas replies confidently.

The lady’s smile deepens. “What do you say Hank?”

“If it pleases you,” the old man answers in a soft voice but he’s smiling as well.

“Well then, in that case, I guess I have to find my phone.” She searches her handbag for a moment, turns the phone on when she finds it and hands it to Cas. “You know how these things work? Otherwise, give the phone to your mate.”

“I know how these things work, Ma’am,” Cas chuckles.

“Good for you,” she nods.

She and her mate take the same places Cas and Dean had occupied a minute before.

When the husband takes his place half a step behind her, Dean thinks that for all that the lady had encouraged their PDA, they’re going to go the proper route themselves. But then she stretches her hand out and her mate takes it, interlocking their fingers. She looks back at him and he at her, and both of their gazes are so full of adoration that it warms Dean’s heart. Yeah, that’s a good place to be after 35 years of marriage. He very much hopes he and Cas will be the same.

“Thank you,” the lady says when Cas hands the camera back. “You two should go up Lookout Mountain after this. Won’t be many people today with the weather being what it is, and I guess you won’t see seven states like they advertise but it’s still a nice place with a good view.”

“I think we might do that, thank you for the tip,” Cas answers.

 

By the time they make it out of the caves, it has stopped raining. Dean still lingers in the shop, not so much to buy any of the merchandise, more because they have good cell phone reception.

_Sammy: Gabe & Bal took Mary to the playground. Hope that’s okay. _

For a moment, an irrational fear grips Dean’s stomach just because of the knowledge that if he called Sam right now, Sam couldn’t tell him whether his daughter is alright. Then the next minute he remembers, that duh, he can call Gabe any time he wants to as well.

_Dean: Sure. It’ll tire her out, will make the night easier._

He still also sends a message to Gabriel, though.

_Dean: Don’t let her go on the slide without watching her. She thinks she can do it but she fumbles on the stairs._

It takes less than a minute for the answer to come through.

_Candy man: I’m not stupid._

There is a picture attached that shows a squealing Mary on the swings, while Bal is pushing the swing forward. Her face is red from exertion and her hair is blown in all directions. In short, she looks like she’s thoroughly enjoying herself.

Dean sighs a relieved sigh and holds the phone up for Cas to see.

As usual, he reacts with a small growl about Bal but then his face softens. “So all is good at home and we can stay the night?”

“Looks like it,” Dean nods.

“Good,” Cas smiles. “It’s been too long since we had the chance for a real date.”

They press close to one another for a moment, before Cas asks. “So do we want to go up Lookout Mountain?”

“Sure,” Dean nods. “As long as you keep me warm if I start freezing.” He smirks and wiggles his eyebrows and Cas laughs and it sounds more relaxed than he’s been in a long time.

 

As predicted, there is absolutely no one else from the group who makes the trek up the hill. Which is all the better because as soon as they’re out of view Cas takes Dean’s hand.

“I think you need to amend your bucket list,” Dean smiles.

“Hmm?”

“You should make it ‘hold hands in public in all 50 states’. Cause we’ve definitely got our quota fulfilled for the handholding item.”

“Are you making fun of me, Dean Novak?”

Dean grins. “Only a little.”

“Hmpf,” Cas pouts but there are little crinkles around his eyes and none of the frown that he gets when he’s actually stressed out.

“Cas?” Dean pulls at his hand to get him to stop. They’re almost at the top now, anyway.

“What is it, Dean?” Cas immediately becomes serious.

“Thank you,” Dean says. “For this trip. We needed it. Thank you for seeing that and making it happen.”

Instead of an answer, Cas hauls him into a kiss. Dean goes willingly, wrapping his arms around his mate and bridging the distance between them until Cas’ lips find his.

It’s slow and unhurried, warmth spreading between them. Dean opens his mouth, lets his tongue flicker out to brush against Cas’ lips, invites him to deepen the kiss.

Cas moans and grips Dean’s neck to bring him closer – and then the pressure suddenly disappears.

There’s a shout, Dean gets pushed, there’s movement, and before Dean even has the time to react, Cas is chasing after someone. A girl, blonde and swift. But Cas is an Alpha and he tackles her down a few steps later, growling while she’s screaming. Dean is in motion then, too, running after them.

“Let go of me, you asshole!” The girl kicks futilely at Cas, who has one of her arms secured behind her back holding her down. Her words break down into curses and then whimpers of pain when he pulls her arm even higher.

“Cas, stop! She’s just a pup!”

“She stole my wallet,” Cas growls.

“Did not!” She protests but Cas bends her arm a little more and the protests turn into pleas directed at Dean. “Don’t let him do this, please. Don’t let him break my arm. Don’t let him do anything to me. Don’t let him rape me. Help me, please!”

“Pocket of her hoodie,” Cas snarls.

“Okay,” Dean says, “okay.” Between the adrenaline rushing through him and the girl’s pleading he can literally feel his hormones go into overdrive. _Protect the pup protect the pup_ is thrumming through his body in a staccato rhythm. “Cas, you got to give her a bit more range so that I can get to her pockets,” he says calmly.

Against the odds, Cas lets up a bit but it’s not a good idea because the girl starts kicking and trying to squirm out of the hold immediately, and Cas tightens his grip back up in response.

“Stop it, both of you!” Dean barks. He makes an effort to make his voice softer when he turns to the girl, though. “You’ll be okay, I promise. He ain’t going to do anything weird. But you gotta work with me here, okay? He’s my mate, I can calm him down. But you gotta help.”

She’s still whimpering but at least she stops struggling. Dean can see where Cas’ fingers on her arms have left red marks that will turn into bruises. Not that she doesn’t have enough of those already. There’s a purple bruise on the side of her face and what looks almost like choke marks around her neck. This girl is so far from okay, it’s not even funny.

“I’m going to check for the wallet, okay? No funny business, just that, understand?”

She glares at him, eyes red-rimmed but baring her teeth instead of letting her tears fall.

This close, he can smell the girl’s scent under the dirt. Distressed. Omega.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he tries to calm her down. “Don’t lunge at me, okay? He won’t like that.”

Cas’ growl rumbles deep in his throat.

“Yeah, Alpha, we’ve heard you,” Dean says, aligning himself with the girl in an attempt to get Cas’ Alpha side to see something other than _threat_. “What’s your name?” he asks the girl while he’s digging in her pocket for the wallet.

“Bite me,” she spits.

“Pretty sure naming someone that is illegal,” Dean deadpans and holds the wallet he’s found for Cas to see.  “That yours?”

“Yes,” Cas growls.

“Okay, I’m keeping it for now,” Dean nods and puts it in his own pocket. “So, let’s see who you are.”

The girl’s own wallet is in the back-pocket of her jeans. She starts struggling again when he goes for that but to no avail.

She growls at him when he opens her wallet but Dean ignores it. There isn’t much in it. A few bills, mostly ones. He takes out the few photographs.

“Leave those alone! They’re mine! Give them back!” This time her voice cracks and tears are forming in her eyes.

The first photo shows a blonde woman and a dark haired guy, conservative looking, middle class. The young girl standing between them is obviously the Omega in front of them. “Your parents?” Dean asks and shows her the photo.

“Fuck off. And give that back!” The tears are rolling down her face now.

Dean puts the photos back into the wallet and looks for an ID. There’s a social security card and a driver’s license. The names match at least, so that’s something. “Claire Novak,” Dean reads. “That your name?”

Cas looks up at the name, frowning.

“Says so on my ID, doesn’t it?” Claire snaps.

“Yeah, but it also says you’re 22. And I’m eating my hat if you’re a day older than 16. Cas, does the name ring a bell for you?”

Cas shakes his head.

“What about these people?” Dean holds up the picture. “The guy does have an eery resemblance to you.”

“There’s a lot of Novaks out there, Dean.”

And hey, that sounds like his disgruntled mate more than like an Alpha predator. Progress.

“Let me go, you asshat!” It’s petulant, both anger and fear partly draining out of Claire as Cas calms down.

“You cuss about as creatively as he does,” Dean chuckles and turns back to his mate. “Cas, I hate to say it but the pup needs a warm shower and a burger and I think we should provide it.”

“She stole my wallet!”

“Yeah, and you tackled her for it and got it back.” When Cas doesn’t budge, Dean adds. “Look, Cas, I can smell how hungry she is. And I remember how that feels. Because once upon a time, I was her. I would have killed for a free burger.”

“I most certainly hope you don’t mean that literally.”

Dean breathes a relieved sigh. Because the dry remark is typical Cas. It means he’s got himself back under control. And it also means he is okay with this. “Thanks, Cas, appreciate it.” Dean turns to the girl, “So, you gonna stick around for the free burger if he lets you up?”

There are more emotions flitting over Claire’s face than he can catch. Relief at the prospect of being set free. Confusion over the offer. Distrust of their intentions. Longing for food.

And okay, he can work against the distrust at least a little. Though he guesses the fact that Cas is still holding her down won’t help. “I’m Dean, that’s Cas. Last name’s Novak. Not kidding.”

Her eyes widen in surprise and yeah, okay, maybe that is her real name after all.

“I think you can let her go, Cas. If it suits you, I mean.”

Cas huffs but he lets go, sitting up slowly, ready to interfere in case the girl tries anything stupid.

“Wouldn’t really recommend running right this second,” Dean says to her. “Not until he’s got his Alpha completely in check. He’s a bit high-strung these days.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” the girl snaps but she sits up slowly and carefully, rubbing life back into her wrists before holding her hand out for her wallet. “I want that back,” she demands.

“Give it to me,” Cas says.

“What? No! That’s mine!” Claire protests.

“Sorry, kiddo, he’s the Alpha,” Dean shrugs and hands the wallet over to Cas.

She grumbles but makes no move to interfere.

“You’ll get it back after the burger,” Cas promises and lets the wallet disappear in his pocket. “My own wallet, too, please.”

Dean hands it over.

“What do you want with my stuff?” Claire wants to know.

“You want that burger or not?” Cas asks gruffly.

She frowns but lowers her eyes away from Cas. And for an instance, Dean sees that ten-year-old from the photo, her father looking at her sternly after she’s done something wrong.

“Come on,” Dean says before the image can take hold, “let’s go get that burger.”

 

They end up in a small restaurant close to their hotel. Dean would have been good with a fastfood joint, but _this is still our vacation, Dean_. So he doesn’t argue the point.

Instead, he lets Cas order burgers for all of them, and observes Claire. She’s sullen and quiet and Dean would bet she’s trying to find a way to steal that wallet of hers back. She just doesn’t find one without risking the free burger.

“You two good on your own for a moment?” Cas asks. “I’ll be right back.”

He’s chosen a very visible table. There is no way anyone is going to try anything weird in the few minutes he’s going to the restroom.

“We got your smell all over us, Cas. I think we’re going to manage a few minutes on our own.”

Cas shoots him a look that says very plainly that he was talking about the two of them being alone with each other more than about the rest of the townspeople but Dean chooses to ignore it.

“Does it hurt?” Dean asks when Cas is out of sight and Claire is still rubbing her wrist.

“What do you think?” she snarls.

“I think it hurts,” Dean shrugs. “But not as much as that hurt.” He points to his temple where the nasty bruise is on Claire’s face.

“Yeah, that guy was shitty.”

“So Cas isn’t shitty?”

“The other guy was _extra_ shitty.”

“Fair enough,” Dean snickers. “So, want to tell me why you ran? I mean, not from Cas. From home.”

“No.”

“Also fair, I guess,” Dean admits. “Thing is, you’re going to have to tell someone eventually. That fake ID ain’t going to get you through until you’re actually 22. And if you want help, well, Cas isn’t extra shitty, and neither am I.”

“He bred you up,” she accuses. “You smell of baby and it’s icky.”

Dean suppresses his chuckle at the expression on Claire’s face. He remembers being this grossed out by the thought of babies but for him it’s half a lifetime ago. “He’s my mate.”

“What’s the difference? He’s only really gonna be happy when you’re round and heavy and can’t run away from him.”

“Is that how it was with your parents?” Dean asks.

“None of your business,” Claire snaps.

“Well, I can tell you that that’s not how it is for us,” Dean says with emphasis. There’s a day early next month that Cas has marked on the calendar with a simple x and the word _Pam_ that proves it. But he’s got no intention of telling this to a random runaway.

“Whatever,” she dismisses him.

Dean shrugs. He wouldn’t believe himself, either, if he was in her place and still carrying the marks of someone trying to choke him. “So, why’d you run?” he brings the topic back to what he wants to know.

“Do I still get the burger if I don’t answer that?”

“You get the burger no matter what,” Dean nods.

Claire doesn’t look like she believes him but after a moment she mumbles, “I’m not running. I’m searching.”

“Okay,” Dean says. “Who are you looking for?”

“My Mom,” she admits grudgingly.

“Is your Mom an Omega?”

“Why is that important?” she snaps.

“Just making conversation. From the photo, your parents look like a pretty typical middle-class conservative Alpha – Omega couple,” Dean tries to calm her.

“He didn’t do anything shitty! She didn’t run from him!”

There’s venom behind the words and Dean leans backwards, away from her, and holds his hands up appeasingly. “Hey, I never said she did.”

“They loved each other,” Claire says determinedly and a little desperately.

“I believe you,” Dean nods, more to keep her calm than because he’s actually certain of it. But he can hear the girl’s stomach rumbling from here, so he doesn’t want her to run out on them before she’s at least got a meal into her.

As if on cue, the waitress shows up with their food. Claire keeps her head down but the waitress still wrinkles her nose at Claire’s dirty clothes and unwashed smell. She’s polite enough, though, so Dean lets it go.

“Do we gotta wait for him?” Claire asks with a frown and can’t seem to rip her eyes off the plate in front of her.

“I’ll wait, you go ahead.”

She doesn’t have to be asked twice and digs into her food like she hasn’t eaten anything for the past two days. Which, come to think of it, might be the truth.

She’s through with her burger and half-way through Dean’s fries by the time Cas comes back. Dean raises his eyebrows at him but Cas shakes his head. Whatever is up, he doesn’t want to discuss it in front of Claire.

“Hope you don’t mind that we started,” Dean says instead.

“It’s fine,” Cas replies.

They eat quietly, Cas the only one who actually uses the cutlery provided.

Dean eats his burger with his fingers, though a good deal slower than Claire, who wolfs down everything. Dean pushes the rest of his fries over to her and she finishes those off before actually managing to eat most of Cas’ fries, too, after he pushes his plate in her direction.

Once they’re done, Cas stacks the plates and puts them to the side. “Claire, can I ask you a few questions?”

She’s caught between fear and defiance the moment she’s being addressed by the Alpha, her scent wavering in thick undecided motions. “Will I get my stuff back then?”

“Yes,” Cas nods. He’s serious but calm now, _earth_ and _roots_ overlaying all worry.

It’s immediately calming Dean down, too, where he had trouble not mirroring Claire’s flight instinct before, hundreds of years of genetic coding having his nervous system respond to other Omegas around him.

But mate trumps other Omega, and it’s kind of amazing how that works. Instinctively, Dean huddles a little closer to Cas, scenting him and taking full advantage of the new calm.

“Are your parents James and Amelia Novak?”

Claire’s eyes widen in surprise.

“I’ll take that as a Yes. It’s a risk, carrying a fake ID with your actual name,” Cas says, though he softens his words with a smile. “Your school has reported you missing six months ago. Does that sound about right?”

This time, he gets a jerky nod but Claire’s scent changes to fear again. She isn’t happy that Cas has found all of this out in the short time it’s taken to get the burgers.

Cas sighs deeply, noticing the change in her, too. “There’s people from your church who would take you in, you know.”

She shakes her head, fearful but determined. “I can’t go back to the home. I need to find my Mom.”

“Her Dad’s not in the picture?” Dean asks Cas.

“No,” Cas shakes his head. “She stayed with her Grandma until she died. And then in three different homes. All of which she ran away from.”

“Cause I need to find my Mom,” Claire repeats urgently.

“Jody got any information on her?” Dean asks because he’s pretty sure that Jody is the one that Cas called about this.

“No,” Cas shakes his head. “A missing person’s report from years back. That’s all.”

“Charlie?”

“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, Dean,” Cas frowns. “Any search either Jody or Charlie could do would take time and Claire here only promised us not to run until she got her free burger. She has gotten her free burger.”

“Yeah, and you promised me I’d get my stuff back,” Claire sulks.

“And I keep my promises,” Cas answers and holds the wallet out to her. “Do you have suppressants, Claire?”

She splutters and almost lets the wallet drop to the table. Cas catches it and puts it back in her hand.

“You’re underage. And pharmacies are supposed to crosscheck your ID. Do you have suppressants, Claire?” Cas repeats.

She is blushing furiously now. “That’s none of your business.”

“No, it’s not,” Cas agrees. “But you’re living on the streets. Judging by your bruises, that’s not all that safe in the first place. Try adding heat to that.”

It’s a valid point, and there’s a shudder running through Claire at the image. She grimaces. “I stole a stash from the last home. I don’t got much left.”

Cas nods as if he has expected nothing else. “Then that should be the next thing we do. Buy suppressants. And you could probably do with a shower and a set of clean clothes.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asks.

Cas shrugs, so Dean supplies the answer. “Cause that’s who he is. He helps whenever he can.”

“No one just helps, they all want something,” Claire bites, weariness of a fight fought too often competing with budding anger over the moment of betrayal that’s sure to come.

“That’s right. I want something for it,” Cas nods. “I want a promise that you won’t try to steal from us again. And that you’re going to say goodbye when you leave instead of bailing.”

“That’s all?” she asks suspiciously.

“Well, I’m guessing that’ll prove challenging enough for you.”

“I can totally behave,” she growls.

“Prove it.”

“You got it, old man.”

 

Dean’s not been ashamed in a pharmacy anymore since he was a kid when any mention of bodily functions brought on a blush. But this is decidedly awkward.

Cas is professional as always as he explains to the woman that they need suppressants suitable for a teenage Omega but Dean can feel the stares of the pharmacy staff as they’re trying to figure it out.

Dean’s definitely not a teenager anymore, and their mating bond in combination with the baby smell clinging to them is unwavering in telling everyone that they belong together.

Claire is too old to be Dean’s daughter and too young to be Cas’ mistress. She looks shy and vulnerable, the way she holds her head down, though Dean sees her glare from under her hair, the shy posture mostly adopted to cover her face so that the staff won’t see her bruises and scream bloody murder.

Then of course, Dean is assuming an adherence to newer societal standards when he thinks that Claire is too young to be Cas’ mistress. If you go old-fashioned and assume that an Omega can be mated and bred the minute they present, and that a pack-Alpha will want to produce as many heirs as he can with whatever Omega he currently fancies, then, well, Dean guesses everything is possible.

The lady behind the counter doesn’t ask but her look tells clear enough what she assumes, an icy “ _at least he’s buying her suppressants_ _and not breeding her immediately”_ in her eyes.

It makes him feel a bit sick, so Dean lets his gaze sink to the floor, glad that Cas is handling this and also glad that they’ll never have to meet this lady again. Though if this were their own pack grounds where people know them, the situation would never have come up.

Cas herds them outside when he’s got what they need. “Back to the hotel.”

“I’m not going to a hotel room with you, I’m not stupid,” Claire shakes her head and stops walking.

“Hotel room’s got a shower,” Cas shrugs. “You need to clean up before I can look at those cuts and bruises. Also, I have my emergency kit in our room.”

“He’s a doctor,” Dean explains quietly. “And it’s the residual Alpha anger that makes him be this bossy. He’s usually more polite.”

It’s supposed to be gentle ribbing, only meant to tell Cas that he needs to slow down if he doesn’t want to scare Claire off, but Dean’s too rattled from the pharmacy and it comes out off kilter.

Cas stares at him searchingly, and Dean squirms for a moment before asking, “You got a backpack with a spare set of clothes stashed away somewhere?” to get them over the uncomfortable moment.

“Yeah. But I’m not telling you where.”

“That mean your other set of clothes isn’t any cleaner than this one?”

Claire growls at him. Her go-to-attitude apparently. But then, she’s only got herself to take care of, so she can risk pissing people off as long as she has a clear get-away strategy. Dean never had that luxury.

“Oh, Gabe would like this one,” Dean forces a grin instead of letting his thoughts wander further down this road. “She’s feisty.”

“I’m also right here,” Claire complains. “Who’s Gabe?”

“My brother,” Cas explains.

“His Omega brother. Who gives most Alphas a run for their money.”

“You don’t have to sound quite so gleeful about it,” Cas grumbles.

“Yeah, I do, Alpha,” Dean grins and leans in to press a kiss to Cas’ cheek, choosing closeness over propriety to find his inner equilibrium.

“Bleh,” Claire comments.

“Told you I love him,” Dean shoots back.

“Just keep it to yourself,” Claire grimaces.

“Not a chance,” Dean chuckles. “Ask our pack. They have stories to tell… On second thought, wait until you’re of age before you ask them anything of the sort.”

“Gross.”

“So you say. Do you still feel unsafe coming to the hotel with us?”

She looks them up and down once more. “Not really. You’re just some sappy old couple.”

“Fair,” Dean shrugs. “We kind of are.”

Cas shakes his head at their banter. “If you’re done we’re blocking the sidewalk. I’m sure people would appreciate it if we were moving forward.”

 

Half an hour later, Claire is in the shower, bathroom door firmly locked behind her.

Dean is rummaging through his suitcase to find anything that might fit her. The best he can come up with is a sweater jacket. It’s going to be about five sizes too big on her but at least it’s clean and provides some warmth. He adds a Led Zeppelin t-shirt to it and leaves the stack in front of the bathroom. “There’s a few clothes you can try. They’re in front of the door,” he shouts.

There is a grunt of acknowledgement from inside that has to be good enough.

He joins Cas on the tiny balcony attached to their room. It’s cold but the winter sun has broken through the clouds and it brightens the afternoon. “So what the hell are we going to do with her? Can’t well send her back out on the streets.”

“She might want to be out on the streets, Dean,” Cas says and keeps his eyes in the distance.

Dean can’t read it well, whether Cas thinks it’s easier that way or whether he’d consider doing for this girl what he’s done for Charlie and Meg. 

“No one _wants_ to be living on the streets. And I think she would have bailed already if she wanted away from us,” Dean reasons.

“She’s smart. She knows that right this second we’re helpful for her.”

“You look like her dad.”

Cas flinches and Dean is immediately sorry, even though it’s the truth.

“Here,” he digs his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolls through his newest message and shoves the screen under Cas’ nose. “From about ten minutes ago.”

The picture shows their daughter, though she’s got enough spinach in her hair that she looks more like she’s trying to impersonate the Hulk than like the blonde little girl she is. The caption reads: _Uncle Balthazar helped with the food. He looked even worse. But he didn’t want his picture taken._

Cas’ scent mellows into honey and sunshine when he looks at the image. Then he sighs and the clouds come back. “We can ask whether she wants to stay the night. Sleep in an actual bed. Though I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Cause she might steal our stuff and run?”

“Cause we’re sharing a room with a 16-year-old.”

And yeah, that’s true. “Is that a bad idea?” Dean asks. “Is her smell affecting you?”

“It is a bad idea, yes,” Cas nods. “But not because her smell is affecting me. It affects me no more than any other Omega who isn’t you.”

“Good,” Dean mumbles and buries his face in Cas’ neck, drawing him close.

“You’re still gross,” comes a voice from the balcony door.

Claire wrinkles her nose at them. She’s got Dean’s sweater jacket tightly wrapped around herself. She’s not wearing her jeans.

“There’s this thing on my knee. It’s been there for a while and it’s not gotten any better,” she says grudgingly. “You actually a doctor?”

“Yes,” Cas nods. “I am.”

“So you ain’t gonna do any weird shit when you touch me, right? No being overwhelmed by Omega scent or something freaky like that?” She tries to make it sound challenging but her voice shakes.

It hurts, looking at her guarded face, seeing her willing to take the risk of being touched against her will in the hopes that making better whatever problems her knee gives her will be worth the exchange.

“I feel no urge to touch you in any improper way,” Cas ensures her. “My mate’s right here. He’s the only one I want to touch that way.”

She makes a gagging noise but she nods and turns around to sit on one of the beds. “Got a scrape when I struggled with the extra shitty guy. Think it got infected or something.”

“I’ll get my kit,” Cas says, breaking away from Dean and changing into professional mode. “If you’re okay with that, I’d like to look at your other bruises, too. You got a shirt on under that sweater?”

“Course.” Reluctantly, Claire takes the sweater off. It reveals both the new bruises and a lot of old ones. It tightens Dean’s jaw. No pup should look like this, whether she lives of stealing or not.

“I’m going to check every open wound and every bruise, okay? You tell me if you want me to stop touching you, or when something hurts,” Cas says and kneels in front of her.

“’kay,” she mumbles.

Cas works methodically, not giving much away about his personal feelings about this. But he sighs when he gets to the wound on Claire’s knee. “Yes, this got infected. I’ll have to clean it out. That’ll hurt,” he warns.

“Ain’t gonna hurt more than when he did it,” Claire shrugs.

“Still. Dean, can you get her an ibuprofen? And maybe you want to keep talking through this, Claire. I’ve been told it helps to be distracted.”

Dean makes sure Claire sees he’s taking the Ibuprofen out of an official package, and she swallows the pill without protest.

Cas sets to work and Claire flinches but grits her teeth through the pain and doesn’t let the whine escape. “You look like my Dad,” she says instead.

“I do?” Cas asks.

“Yeah,” she nods. “But don’t go thinking that it means that I like you. You don’t smell like him anyway.”

“What did he smell like?” Cas asks while getting the antiseptic spray and a few clean pieces of gauze from his kit.

“Like mountains and clean air. And then like madness.”

The pup herself smells like a young unmated Omega now that she’s clean. A bit like ripe peaches, ready for the plucking. Dean keeps an eye on Cas even though he doesn’t think it’s necessary.

“How does madness smell?” Cas asks.

“Kind of chalky,” Claire says and scrounges her nose. “Also, your mate doesn’t behave like my Mom.”

“Why’s that?” Cas positions himself so that the overhead light gives him the best possible lighting to clean the wound.

“Ow,” Claire cringes when Cas sets to cleaning the puss out of the infection. “My Mom was very proper. He’s not.”

That elicits a snicker from Cas, “No, he’s not.”

“Neither are you, Cas,” Dean reminds him.

“I never said I was.” Cas flashes him a mischievous smile that makes Dean weak in the knees.

God, he had been looking forward to their alone-time. But this is more important, so Dean admonishes him, “Concentrate, Cas.”

“See, that’s what I mean,” Claire points out.

“You’re an Omega, too, young Lady,” Dean reminds her.

“Yeah, but I ran.”

“Oh, so you’re allowed to have your own opinion cause you ran but I ain’t allowed one?” Dean asks with raised eyebrows.

“Well, yeah. I don’t have to listen to any of you. _You_ got yourself mated. That’s your own fault. I had better sense than that.”

“And thank you for that,” Cas nods. “No one should get mated at 16.”

“I’m 22,” she shoots back. “Says so right there on my ID.”

“Yeah, right,” Dean chuckles.

She glares at him but doesn’t argue any further. Or maybe that is because Cas is done with the infected wound on Claire’s knee and is going on to inspect the rest of her. It’s like her peaches rot into something that should have been taken out weeks ago. It’s more acrid than pure fear but it turns Dean’s stomach anyway.

“Dean, go sit down,” Cas says, looking up at him for no more than a second. “Claire, I’m going to rub ointment on your bruises. I’m going to be careful and I’m not touching you more than I have to.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Claire asks while Dean does as he’s told and sits down in the armchair near the window.

“Being a new Dad makes all your senses sharper. He’s reacting to your scent.”

“Oh,” her voice suddenly gets smaller. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Dean manages. “Not your fault.” Still, he’s queasy and it wouldn’t be so bad if his instincts weren’t telling him that he needs to do something _now_ because this smell means that there’s something wrong with this pup and he needs to protect the pups. Only all he can do right now is let Cas work and sit here quietly. “Can you keep talking, please?” he asks because he desperately needs distraction.

“Dean, there’s a bottle of water in the bag next to you. Drink some,” Cas tells him, voice calm and professional.

Dean nods, grateful for the steady tone, and starts rummaging through the bag for the water.

“I’m sorry about these,” Cas says to Claire and rubs some balm into the bruises on her wrists.

She shrugs. “Should have gotten away clean then. I know the risks.”

“Pro-tip, girl, don’t go for the ones with mates, especially not if they’re pregnant or smell of baby. Alpha-vigilance is in hyper-drive during that time. You won’t catch them off-guard.”

“Dean, I’m not sure we should be giving her tips on petty theft,” Cas frowns.

“Well, I have no tips for armed robberies. I never graduated past petty theft,” Dean shrugs. The water plus the banter help a little, the unease retreating some. “Also, I’d categorize that as a tip in survival. Pretty sure if you’d been Balthazar, stealing that wallet would have meant lasting damage.”

Cas frowns. “I really am sorry, Claire. At the same time, Dean is right. That was dangerous. And if you’d gone for his wallet instead of mine…”

Cas doesn’t say it but it’s clear enough. An attack on Dean, no matter how ultimately harmless, and Cas can’t promise anything.

“’m sorry, Alpha.” It comes out grudging. But there’s a hint of deference in the defiance that hadn’t been there before.

Cas notices it, too, because he stares at her intently, searching her face, though Dean can’t say for what or whether he finds it.

“Is it okay if I’m sitting next to you to look at the bruises on your face and neck? It’ll make it easier for me.”

Claire’s hand automatically comes up to her throat. “They aren’t that bad, you don’t need to check them.”

Cas thinks about it for a second. Then he says, “Compromise. You let me look at the bruise on your temple, I give you some balm to put on the marks on your neck.”

Her scent turns towards the rotten again, obviously not happy about having the Alpha anywhere near her neck but she nods. “Okay.” It comes out shaky.

Cas doesn’t linger on that, he moves quickly and efficiently.

Claire whimpers when Cas presses fingers to the side of her skull.

“I’m sorry, Claire. I’m checking whether there might be anything broken or splintered. How long ago did this happen?”

Claire shrugs but then she says, “Sometime last week.”

Dean remembers that, too, how the days kind of blend when pretty much all you do is forage for food.

“Okay,” Cas nods. “There’s still swelling but if the injury is recent, then that’s to be expected.” He sighs with relief. “It doesn’t seem like there’s any lasting damage. Let’s get that balm.”

He gets a tube of cream out of his emergency kit and hands it to Claire.

“Rub that on every single bruise that you have. Do it at least twice a day. Okay?”

She looks up from the tube in her hands to Cas. “You don’t want this back?”

“No,” Cas shakes his head. “Keep it.”

For a minute, she doesn’t seem to know what to do, then she nods. “Thank you, Alpha.” It’s no more than a whisper.

Cas makes an aborted movement, like he wants to pet her hair the way he does with Mary when she’s upset, but instead he sighs and turns to pack away the rest of his kit. “You’re very welcome, Claire.”

Silence settles over them while Claire rubs the balm into her skin. Cas settles down on the second one of the beds, typing something on his phone. It goes back and forth a few times, like a text conversation. Dean kind of wants to look but he also doesn’t want to disturb the relative peace that has settled over the room, so he waits it out.

Finally, Claire is done and closes the tube with the cream.

Cas looks up from his phone then, observing her quietly for a moment until she begins to squirm under his gaze.

Then he says evenly, “I want you to come home with us. To our pack.”

“What? No!” Claire is immediately on her feet. “I’m not going to be your Omega pet! Doesn’t matter how _nice_ you are!”

She stomps towards the bathroom to get her jeans.

“And that’s not what I was proposing,” Cas says calmly. “Please sit back down, Claire.”

It’s still calm but Claire’s steps falter at the Alpha command that’s crept into Cas’ voice.

“I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my Dad or my Alpha,” she repeats but her voice is shaky. 

“No, I’m not. But I want you to hear me out. I promise if you want to go after you’ve heard what I have to say, I’ll not hinder you.”

Claire hesitates, obviously undecided between her instincts to obey and to run.

“Have I broken a promise yet?” Cas asks.

After a second, Claire shakes her head. Silently, she walks back over to the bed she’d been sitting on and sits back down.

“Thank you,” Cas smiles at her.

“Don’t think too much of it,” Claire grumbles.

But Cas isn’t put out by the attitude. He keeps smiling and starts back up where he left off. “I wasn’t asking you to come live with us, though if that’s something you wanted we could find a solution. I was asking you to come back to our pack with us.”

“How’s that different?”

“Because there are other options than living with us. We have a boarding school –“

“Bleh,” Claire makes a face.

“We have a boarding school,” Cas continues, “where you could stay in the Omega dorms. It’s a good school and the Housemaster is a good person. But I understand if you don’t want that. There is a third option.”

Dean raises his eyebrows at that. He’s thought about the boarding school, obviously, as well as whether it would be possible to integrate Claire into their household. He can see though how they’re maybe stretched a little too thin for that, what with the four small pups and one of them being special needs.

“Friends of mine have a daughter your age. They’ve adopted her because they’re two Beta females and they wanted a family. They’re good people. On top of that, they’re our sheriff and our deputy. If you stayed with them, Jody would help you search for your mother. She has the necessary resources.”

“And they’d use the resources on me?” Claire asks doubtfully.

“I’m the pack-Alpha, Claire. They will if I give my permission. And I give my permission.”

“You’re the –,“ Claire breaks off, suddenly avoiding Cas’ gaze altogether and hunching her shoulders to make herself smaller.

Cas rubs a hand over his face, looking weary.

“Hey,” Dean gets up and goes over to Cas. He rubs his shoulders. “It’s okay, Cas. We all come around eventually.”

Because he can see it now, how exhausting it must be. To always get the same reaction. To have people cowering when all you want to do is help. He plants a kiss on top of Cas’ head.

“I came around, didn’t I?”

“You’re my mate,” Cas answers but he also leans back into Dean.

“I still had a choice, little Alpha,” Dean ruffles his hair. “You gave me a choice.”

“Bleh,” Claire gags. “You got any insulin in that bag of yours? I think all of this sugar is worse than the extra shitty guy.”

“He’s giving you a choice, too,” Dean turns to her, though he leaves his hand wrapped around Cas’ shoulder. “Stay the night, think about it. Tell us in the morning. Don’t miss this chance because of something that’s beyond the control of either of us.”

She wraps her arms around herself, hugging herself in lieu of having anyone else she trusts to comfort her. But she says a quiet “Okay”.

 

So it comes that instead of the lazy round of making out that they were originally planning on before their dinner reservation, they go clothes shopping. Because Cas insists that if Claire comes to their dinner reservation with them, he doesn’t want to get arrested for neglecting her.

Claire grumbles and growls and insists not to go to the mall because she hates the mall.

Dean kind of suspects that that is because she’s gotten thrown out of a mall before so he ushers them towards a thrift store that he’s seen earlier. It looked like it had a decent enough selection. Cas isn’t all that happy about it but he relents.

“Try this one,” Dean holds out a thickly knitted jacket.

Claire snorts. “Do I look like a grandma to you?” She goes for a leather jacket instead.

“I think we’ve got ourselves a wannabe rock girl,” Dean chuckles.

“Who says I’m a wannabe?” Claire asks smugly.

Dean laughs. “Careful, or I’m going to make you sing karaoke.”

“Oh, bring it on!” Claire challenges.

“Anytime,” Dean promises and grins at her and then the weirdest thing happens – she grins back.

She notices it a moment later, her face falling and her brows drawing together.

“It’s okay to laugh,” Dean says softly but it’s too late, Claire already looks like she wants to cry. Instead, she flees into the changing room.

Dean sighs and shrugs his shoulders at Cas, who’s been keeping a few steps distance, giving them space, even while he’s doing the Alpha thing and securing a perimeter. Which is fine with Dean, and since it’s not the kind of store that has any clerks helping you, there is no staff to get offended by them, either. There’s only one bored looking teen behind the cash desk who has yet to get his nose out of his comic.

“Any signs of danger yet, Alpha?” Dean teases.

Cas grumbles and asks back, “Any word from our pups?”

“Yeah,” Dean nods. “Mary didn’t get her afternoon nap and is now grumpy. Deanie and the twins are fine.”

“Hmm,” Cas makes a vague noise.

“And you?” Dean nudges him. “How are you holding up?”

Because Dean himself misses his pups something fierce. Yeah, they’re fine, and he’s distracted enough by the stray teenager that they’ve found, but he knows he’s going to be more than happy when he can wrap them in his arms again.

“We could always go home tonight, Cas. It’s not like we’re going to, you know, have playtime.”

A frown appears on Cas’ face and in the corners of his mouth. “I just wish…”

“Yeah?” Dean asks when Cas doesn’t continue.

“One good vacation. One time where everything works out as planned.” Cas averts his eyes, the admission troublesome for him. “I get you to myself so rarely and – I find that even though I get overprotective, I want to explore the world with you, Dean. The good parts anyway. Everything is so much more fun when we can explore it together.”

Predictably, Dean’s insides go all mushy at the words. “Sappy little Alpha,” he mumbles fondly. “I love you, too.”

“Would you _please_ stop that,” Claire rips open the curtain of the changing room. “Like, I swear I’m going to puke if you keep this up.”

Dean sighs. “So this is what we have to look forward to when Mary turns into a teen, huh?”

Claire looks at him like he’s gone insane. “Did you really just say that? _Turn into a teen?_ Like it’s equivalent to hulking out?”

“Oh look at that, she knows multi-syllable words. Me thinks, someone went to school after all.”

Claire rolls her eyes at him and points to the clothes she’s carrying. “This stuff fits. You sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” Cas nods, “surprisingly enough, we’re sure.”

 

It’s almost time for their dinner reservation by the time they are back at the hotel.

“You don’t have to take me,” Claire fidgets. “Like, I know you got a fancy reservation and everything. And even with the new clothes,” she gestures vaguely towards the bruises on her face and her throat. “They’re gonna be unhappy about me showing up.”

“I’m going to be unhappy about you staying here,” Cas replies evenly.

She rubs her arms nervously, her eyes looking everywhere but at Cas. She’s tried to avoid directly talking to Cas ever since she’s learned he’s a pack-Alpha. “I’m not gonna steal your shit, Alpha. Not after everything you’ve done. Promise.”

“That wasn’t my point. Think of it as a mutually beneficial arrangement. You need a healthy meal, and snacks from the vending machine do not count. And I am as much of a new father as Dean is.” When Claire doesn’t react to that, Cas adds. “Let’s just say my Alpha-side is coming around to his way of thinking.”

Dean smiles. “She’s a pup and you want to protect her?”

“Yes,” Cas confirms.

Claire shudders at that and wraps her arms tighter around herself. Dean isn’t sure what she’s defensive against but if she’s anything like him, then he thinks she’s mostly trying to protect herself against believing that someone actually cares.

“It doesn’t mean I’m going to act on my instincts against your will. But you’re more than welcome to join us at dinner,” Cas says.

“You’re not my dad,” Claire repeats but there’s a hitch in her voice that hadn’t been there earlier.

“No, I’m not,” Cas says softly. “And I can’t give him back to you. But I can give you a warm meal and if you let me, I can help you find out what happened to your mother.”

 

They are quite the scandal when they make it to the restaurant. It’s an upper class establishment, though not so fancy that Dean and Cas would feel out of place. Claire is a different matter. She keeps her hair over her face as well as she can, and she’s got a scarf that she found at the store slung around her neck to hide the marks there. But for all her bravado, it’s clear that she’s scared.

“Just stay close,” Dean quietly tells her when the waiter leads them in to get seated. “There’s nothing you can do wrong here.”

It’s a testament to her state of mind that she actually does as told, even though she walks close enough to Dean that she almost bumps into him with every other step.

Cas has asked for a table with some privacy, mostly because usually that allows them to be a little inappropriate in public without drawing too much attention, but now Dean doesn’t even wait for Cas to say it out loud before he nudges Claire into the most secluded corner of the table. He waits for Cas to nod before he seats himself, though, seeing how the waiter is still standing there with the menu, waiting for them to be seated. It can’t be wrong to show a little deference.

The waiter hands the menu to Cas, who gives him a friendly if somewhat strained smile. “We’re going to need two more of these, please.”

“Of course, Sir,” the waiter nods and shuffles off only to be back within the minute with two more menus that he hands to Dean and Claire.

Dean mumbles a “Thank you”, and he sort of actually means it. It’s a tourist town, so they gotta be ready for all kinds of folks, from the very traditional to the very modern, and he can appreciate it that so far everyone seems to go with the flow.

Consequently, when the waiter is gone Dean says, “Better than Missouri.”

“I agree. Still not as good as it could be, though. I miss the Cake & Pie,” Cas answers.

It makes Dean smile. “Is that why you want to go exploring, little Alpha? Just to find out that you like it best at home?”

“Maybe.” Cas draws the word out as long as he can.

“I see,” Dean smiles back.

“Oh please shoot me,” Claire groans. “Death is better than having to live through this.”

“Just find something to eat.” Dean shakes his head and represses the urge to smack her with the menu like he would with his brother when he’s obnoxious. Play-fights are fine when everyone knows that it’s for play. He isn’t sure Claire would see it that way.

“You’re not the boss of me.” But she opens her menu and peers at the selection. Her face falls as she scans the pages.

Dean pretends to go through his own menu but he totally catches her deep frown as she goes back to the first few pages. “You find something?” he asks her.

“Umm, the risotto sounds okay.”

Dean looks over his own menu to find it. “That’s a starter.”

Claire shrugs. “’s not like I’m that hungry. I mean I ate all of your fries.”

“That was hours ago,” Dean says at the same time that Cas says, “Please order an entrée, Claire.”

She looks from one of them to the other and then stares sullenly back down at her menu.

“He’s not going to demand compensation,” Dean says quietly. “I promise.”

“I’ve heard that the Surf & Turf is supposed to be outstanding here,” Cas says. “I know Dean likes it, maybe you would like to try it as well?”

Claire looks even more uncomfortable but after a short hesitation she nods.

Dean feels sorry for her and a little helpless. It must be messing with her head, the Alpha who looks like her Dad and who seems friendly enough, but who she doesn’t dare to trust.

“Want to tell us a little about your family?” Dean asks once they’ve settled their orders, Dean going with Surf & Turf as well, and Cas ordering something fancy with asparagus.

“’s not much to know,” Claire shrugs. “My Dad’s gone, my Mom disappeared, my Grandma is dead.”

“Grandma on which side?” Cas asks.

Claire glares at him when she answers. “My Mom’s mom.”

“Do you have any siblings?” Dean asks, making his voice softer than Cas’ borderline interrogation.

“No,” Claire shakes her head.

“How were they? Your parents, I mean,” Dean asks.

Claire thinks about it for a moment. “Proper,” is what she finally settles on.

“Not like Cas and me. Yeah, we’ve been over this,” Dean chuckles.

Claire snorts. “Yeah, somehow, I don’t think they’d approve of you. Even with the whole pack-Alpha gig.” She shuts up suddenly like she’s afraid she’s said something wrong.

“It’s okay,” Cas calms her down. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard this. I tend to take it as a compliment when proper people dislike us.”

“He does,” Dean gives his voice a long-suffering tone. “In fact, he’s smug about it.”

Cas rolls his eyes. “And next he’s going to tell you that it’s all my fault. That he’d never be inappropriate if his inappropriate Alpha didn’t make him. Don’t believe a word.”

“Ha! Don’t let him lull you, it’s almost always his fault! He stages kiss-ins instead of sit-ins.”

It’s too silly and they all three start chuckling.

Maybe it’s the Omega thing or the young father thing, or maybe it’s just who Dean is but like in the store, the sight of Claire laughing warms his heart. She’s a capable kid and resourceful enough that she can probably make it on the streets but Dean doesn’t want her to have to do that. Because he isn’t sure her smile and laugh are going to survive with her.

 

When they’re done with their food, Cas asks the waiter to bring back the menu for them to look at the dessert selection.

Dean waits until the waiter is gone before asking. “So we’ve decided for sure that we’re staying overnight?”

Because if they eat dessert, it’ll be late before they get out of here. Which in turn means that they won’t make it home tonight.

“Do you two have any opinions about this?” Cas asks. “Would you rather go home today or tomorrow?”

“Is the hotel aware of Claire?” Dean asks.

“In a way,” Cas answers vaguely.

“What does that mean?”

Cas squirms a little before confessing, “I told them that my niece has unexpectedly shown up. I had to say something! And it’s a pretty harmless lie,” he defends.

Which, yeah, it is, even if it obviously makes Cas uncomfortable.

“Claire?” Dean turns to her. “What do you say? You got an opinion on this?”

Claire’s eyes turn wide. “I get an opinion?”

Dean would laugh if the reaction didn’t remind him so much of himself. “Yeah, you do,” he nods. “Deciding to come with us doesn’t mean you give up your right to an opinion.”

Claire squints at him like she’s trying to detect a lie. It’s eerie how similar the gesture is to Cas’ mannerisms, when so far, the spitfire Omega has been a polar-opposite to Cas in almost everything. Apart from the blue eyes. They remind Dean of both his mate and his daughter.

“I’m not sure I want to sleep in one room with you.” Claire averts her eyes, her peach scent turning towards the rotten.

“I’m not leaving you alone, it’s not safe!” Cas protests.

“Cas, shush,” Dean frowns. “How do you feel about a night in the car with us?”

Claire shrugs. “I’d be in the backseat and you’d be in front, right?”

“Yeah,” Dean nods.

“Sounds safer.”

Dean chuckles. “Depends on how tired we are when driving.” And because it’s important, he adds, “There’s also the matter of arriving. I’m not sure whether you want to be dropped off at a stranger’s house in the middle of the night. But if we don’t do that, you’ll have to stay the night at our house. We can call ahead so that there’s a bed made in a guestroom for you, but yeah.”

Claire fidgets a little while she’s trying to figure out the catch in the arrangement.

Well, Dean can help her with that. “It’s a pack-Alpha’s household. Several Betas live with us but there are also two more Alphas. It’s not crowded per se, and I can swear on Baby that they won’t do you any harm but I can’t make them magically disappear.”

“Baby?” Claire asks.

“His car,” Cas sighs. “Not the one we’re here with. A classic muscle car.”

“Don’t be too enthusiastic about her, Cas,” Dean tsks. “Even you have to admit that she is a beauty.”

Cas nods peacefully, the discussion not new to him. “I can call ahead to Jody and ask her whether we can bring you by at night if you’d prefer that. But I have to admit that I’d rather we were all awake and had some time together when you get to meet them. I’d like to make sure that everyone starts off on the right foot.”

It makes sense of course. Then on the other hand, Cas trusts both Jody and Donna, otherwise he wouldn’t entertain this idea at all. And they’re their police. It’s not like they don’t get called to sort out whatever shit arises at 2am. So they’re totally fine with being coherent and welcoming in the middle of the night.

Dean frowns, especially when a wave of Cas’ scent hits him. It’s much more potent than it should be. He’s not only coming around to Dean’s way of thinking, he’s intensely protective of Claire. Almost as if she really was his niece. It’s weird. Cas is more level-headed than this usually.

“Can I keep the new stuff? If it doesn’t work out I mean,” Claire asks.

“Of course,” Cas nods briskly.

“Does that mean you want to go to Jody and Donna’s tonight?” Dean asks.

“They’re both Betas?” Claire asks like she needs to make sure.

“Yeah,” Dean nods. “Alex is, too.”

“And they’re going to be okay with me being – you know, not a Beta?”

“Yes,” Cas nods decidedly. “No one in our pack sees Omegas as someone lesser. It won’t make a difference to them.”

Dean smiles because that’s true, but still, “You can always ask me or Gabe if you have any Omega specific questions that they don’t get. Gabe’s the housemaster at the dorms at our school. You’ll get to know him.”

Claire thinks about it for a moment, then she nods. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Dean replies. “Cas?”

“Yeah,” Cas sighs. “I’ll be right back.”

Dean watches his retreating back, Cas already fumbling in his pocket for his phone.

“Should he be doing this?” Claire asks.

“What?” Dean asks back.

“Leaving us alone. He’s done it twice now. In the other place and here.”

Dean shrugs. “Probably would be more proper if we had a chaperone but it’s not like we can grow one out of thin air.”

It doesn’t even get him a tiny smile.

“Look over towards the bar,” Dean nods vaguely in that direction. “See the two bored looking dudes?”

“Yeah?”

“Notice how they sneak glances around the room? This is a high-class establishment. They pride themselves on being safe. Any strange Alpha comes too close to our table, someone will be there. That Alpha ain’t even going to reach us.”

Claire growls lowly through her clenched teeth. It takes Dean a moment to get it. Then he has to bite back a smile. She’s growling at the security personnel. It’s the best possible reaction. The same one Dean’s had when he first had the pleasure to go out in an establishment that had more quality than a burger joint.

But he still tell her, “You need to know when to fight, kid. If you try to fight every single fight you encounter, you’ll not make it.”

It doesn’t calm her down, instead her growl gets more vehement. “What am I supposed to do, run?”

“No,” Dean shakes his head. “Though sometimes that’s what it takes. But sometimes you gotta let others help. Not necessarily the bodyguards. It’s still insulting that they’re watching us like we’re some piece of jewelry that can be stolen. But you know, you know what I mean.”

“You mean your Alpha,” Claire states.

“Yeah,” Dean nods, “I mean him and others like him. You see, he’s not the only one who’s ever helped me out. There’s Ellen. She’s the town official and she’s the one who actually let my brother and me stay with the pack. That was long before I met Cas. And there’s Bobby, who gave me a job as a mechanic and bullied me into getting my GED. And even before all of that, when I was your age, I had a best friend who I teamed up with.”

Dean smiles a little sadly at his mention of Benny. They’ve sent each other pictures of their respective pups, but otherwise, they’ve kept their distance. Stray texts, weeks or months in between. Dean’s grateful to even know that Benny’s alive, but still.

He shakes himself out of his reverie. “I guess what I want to say is that it’s good to have someone you can rely on. You got anyone? A friend? A group that you’re running with?”

Claire bites her lips when she shakes her head. “I’m looking for my Mom,” she repeats as if that explains it.

And maybe it does. “You’re on the move. Not staying long enough in any place to make friends.”

Claire nods.

“Sucks,” Dean says.

“It’s okay,” Claire answers but she can’t keep the waver out of her voice.

“Everyone needs someone.”

Claire growls at him again. “I’m not weak.”

“I didn’t say that you were.”

“But you’re going to say it. I’m an Omega. Need someone to protect me. Need someone to help me through my heats. Need someone I can dote on. Whatever. I can do shit on my own,” she spits.

“You wanna be Lone Wolf?” Dean asks.

That shuts Claire up. It’s not a term usually used for Omegas. Though it’s technically not impossible to become Lone Wolf for anyone. It’s just that Betas and Omegas have much better chances of having another pack have mercy on them if they get exiled. An ex-pack-Alpha will rarely find another pack that lets him even set foot on their grounds.

“I could be Lone Wolf?” She sounds insecure.

“Sure,” Dean nods. “Though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“What do you know about it?” She challenges.

Dean shrugs. “I know that it’s hard. And that you forget how it is to talk to people. How to live among them. We’re having a naming ceremony for the pups in spring and I’ve been trying to invite their grandpa. So far, he’s not coming.”

Claire stares at him. “Your Dad is Lone Wolf?”

“My Sire,” Dean says. “Long story. But yeah, he’s Lone Wolf.”

“And Cas lets him…”

“Yes.”

“I let who do what?” Cas slides back into his seat.

“Cain,” Dean says as his only explanation.

“Oh,” Cas wrinkles his nose. “Yes, I do. Whatever it is that I do.”

“Support me. And by extension him.”

“Hmm,” Cas’ face turns a little softer. “I can’t really deny that. I’ve paid already, want to go?”

 

And so they go. They leave the restaurant and go back to the hotel to pack their stuff. Cas explains to the receptionist that his niece’s arrival has changed their plans, and he even manages to make the hotel give them a discount because they’re not actually staying the night.

And then they’re back in the car and driving home. Seeing how Cas was driving in the morning, Dean is taking over for now, much to Claire’s confusion.

But she doesn’t say anything, just observes them from the backseat while her scent wavers like it can’t decide which fruit it wants to be.

“Omegas can drive, you know?” Dean says over his shoulder.

“I can’t,” Claire says.

“Because you’re barely 16,” Cas points out.

Claire mutters something that Dean doesn’t understand.

“I can teach you,” Dean tells her. “If you stay.”

When Cas looks at him with raised eyebrows, Dean shrugs.

“Hey, I taught Sam. And that was in Baby. I’ll feel much more relaxed about this car.”

Cas splutters, “You two are not trashing this car.”

“Well, I wouldn’t do it on purpose,” Dean says in a sugar-sweet voice that implies that he’d totally kill the car if he found an inconspicuous way to do it.

Cas rolls his eyes. Then he asks Dean, “Who taught you?”

“How to drive? My Dad.”

Cas makes a surprised noise.

“Yeah, I know, right? But someone had to run errands while he was drinking.”

“I see,” Cas nods, slight growl in his voice that he can never keep out when they’re talking about John Winchester.

“Well, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. What about you?” Dean distracts him. “Who taught you?”

“Michael,” Cas sighs. “Also not the most pleasant experience ever.”

“I can imagine.”

“He was the only choice. Luke was too unpredictable, and Gabe, well, Gabe…”

“… is an Omega.” That one isn’t hard to guess. With the Novaks being as conservative as they were, there were no driving lessons for any Omegas, Dean is sure.

“Yes,” Cas admits.

“No offense, but your family is a bag of dicks, Cas.”

“I’m aware,” Cas nods amiably. “Though I did learn how to drive, so I guess that counts for something.”

“It is a practical skill,” Dean agrees.

“Don’t trash the car,” Cas repeats. “Please?”

This time, Dean laughs. “We’ll do our very best, Cas. And you can teach our pups when they’re old enough.”

“Mmmh,” Cas makes an unconvinced noise. ”We’ll see. I’m not sure I’d be a good instructor.”

“Oh come on, you’re precise in your explanations and you’re always calm and composed, what more could they want?”

“Oh, they would be fine, I’m sure. It would be me dying a thousand deaths!”

“Drama queen,” Dean says fondly.

“You wanted me to be more open about these kind of things, now you have to live with it,” Cas gripes.

“Three hours. Then you can check up on the pups yourself and see that they’re actually good.”

“Which I will do immediately,” Cas promises and Dean chuckles again, even though it’s clear to him that he himself will not go to bed either without having checked up on every single one of the little ones.

“So we didn’t make it to 24 hours, huh?” Dean asks.

“No, we didn’t,” Cas confirms.

“Does that make us _that_ kind of parents?”

“Well, we have a good excuse,” Cas shrugs. “Also, pretty sure someone is going to tell us we’re bad parents no matter what we do.”

“As long as we do better than our Dads, I’m good with us,” Dean says.

“It’s kind of hard to do worse,” Cas answers.

Dean isn’t quite so sure. There are a fuckton of ways to screw up your children. He’s pretty sure that even between the neglect and the drinking and in Dean’s case the physical violence, their Dads haven’t found all of them. 

“You think he’s ever going to show back up again?” Dean asks.

“Who?”

“Your Dad.”

Cas shrugs uncomfortably. “How should I know?”

“Well, he liked you best, didn’t he? So you would be the one with the best instincts about this because you were closest to him.”

“That doesn’t say much, Dean,” Cas sighs. “He wasn’t exactly close with any of us. “

“Still,” Dean insists. “You gotta have an opinion.”

“My opinion is that he’ll show up if and when he wants to be found. Thinking about it or searching for him make no sense at all. I’ve tried, after all.”

“Yeah,” Dean nods because he knows that. “Maybe Michael will plop him in your lap like he did with my Sire,” he muses.

“I’d rather Michael stayed far away from us.” Cas shifts unhappily in his seat.

Dean spares a look in the rearview mirror to see whether Claire is listening. But she’s leaning against the window, staring forlornly at the landscape that’s rushing by.

“Did you hear anything new at all?”

“No,” Cas shakes his head. “And frankly, it worries me. It’s not like Michael to take an open defeat and not at least buck up against it.”

“Maybe he’s learned his lesson?”

“Right,” Cas snorts.

“But you’re definitely going to keep security the way it’s running right now?” Dean asks and can’t keep the hint of anxiety out of his voice.

Because they’ve been slow enough to find back to their old normal. The pups don’t make it easier, naturally, but Dean’s pretty sure that this trip here is also an attempt of Cas to figure out how much he trusts himself. Both being away from his pups and having Dean around strangers.

Dean thinks Cas did good. He’s been protective but not hovering as much as Dean expected. Dean thought that was a good sign. But who knows whether Cas sees it the same way. 

Cas shifts another bit in his seat, like he’s not sure whether he wants to be closer or further away. “I trust you and I trust our network. We’ll know if Michael comes even close to our pack. So yeah, security stays as it is.”

Heightened security at the Roadhouse. Making sure that no one who has no business with the pack gets into actual pack territory. But free movement within pack boundaries for Dean and Gabe. No screening of their contacts or phone calls.

“Okay,” Dean nods. “Thanks, Cas.”

“I never wanted to keep you in the house in the first place,” Cas says quietly. “You know that.”

“No cages, no leashes. I know,” Dean replies. Because he does. He just needs to hear it every so often so that his insecurities will shut up. “Did the trip help?” he asks.

Now it’s Cas who turns around to watch Claire for a moment. Her eyes have fallen closed, the day having taken its toll on the teen. “I’m not sure,” Cas confesses.

“Getting robbed by a teen did nothing for your nerves, huh?”

“It’s not that,” Cas shakes his head. “It’s that I keep imagining you at her age. It makes me want to wrap you in blankets and feed you sandwiches and never let go of you again.”

“That’s in the past, Cas. It can’t hurt me anymore.”

Cas grumbles like he’s not happy about the fact that he can’t travel back in time to make it so that it never hurt in the first place.

Dean reaches over, laying his hand on Cas’ thigh, giving Cas a physical connection to hold onto.

They drive in silence for the most part after that, Cas almost napping for a while, though his breathing rhythm never becomes stable enough for Dean to think that he’s actually fallen asleep.

They switch after they’ve made it a little more than halfway home, Cas driving for the rest of the way.

Dean curls up against the window, the glass cool. They could be in a hotel room right now, curled up around each other. He sighs and tries to get more comfortable. His body is exhausted enough that he should be able to fall asleep. But he misses the smell of his pups and their soft breathing telling him their okay.

He’s pretty sure that it wouldn’t make a difference to lie in a fancy hotel bed. He’d still not be able to fall asleep. There are moments when he wants that back. That freedom to wrap around Cas and not think of anything or anyone else. To run chases through the house and fall into each other and not give a damn.

It’s not that easy anymore. Four pups in the house will make sure of that.

But then. There’s an x marked on the calendar. It still feels selfish to Dean sometimes, even though they’ve debated it in detail over the past few months, and it’s turned out that Dean isn’t the only one who would miss spending heats together.

The thought makes Dean smile. It’s good to know that Cas wants him as much as Dean wants Cas. Even though maybe their focus on each other is selfish of both of them. But then, they don’t actually neglect their pack or their family. They are only trying to carve out some space for themselves to be a couple. If they, with all of their resources can’t do it, who can?

“Are you okay?” Cas asks, keeping his voice down because Claire’s already fallen back asleep after their short rest stop.

“Hmm?” Dean asks.

“Your scent’s all over the place,” Cas explains.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking, is all.”

“About?”

“Heats,” Dean answers.

“Oh,” Cas says.

“Yeah, _oh_ ,” Dean snorts.

“What about them?” Cas asks.

“They’re longer than 24 hours.”

“But we’ll be home,” Cas argues.

“And no more reachable than we’ve been today.”

Cas looks over at him before concentrating back on the road. “You can always go back on suppressants just for a little while.”

Dean sighs. “You know how that’ll go.”

“You’ll keep taking them,” Cas says.

Dean nods. “Cause it’ll always be the wrong time. An inconvenience for pack business. An inconvenience for the babysitters. Without wanting more pups, there is no excuse for being this selfish.”

Cas smiles at that. A soft, deep smile that mostly shows around his eyes and in the sweetness of his scent. “You have no idea how much that means to me, Dean. That you see it that way.”

“What?” Dean says. “How else would you classify getting to spend three days exclusively with my mate, having mind-blowing sex with him while everyone else does the chores?”

Cas smiles but he stays serious. “We both know that it’s not that easy.”

“Maybe not,” Dean admits. “But it’s different than what you’re thinking right now.”

“Meaning?” Cas asks.

“Meaning that you’re talking about me hurting, I’m talking about…” It’s hard to put it into words. “There’s something that happens. Not only during heat but it’s most noticeable then. It’s like I’m a compass and you’re North. And then there’s this magnetic thing happening and every molecule in me is realigning itself towards you…” He breaks off, embarrassed. Cas is supposed to be the sappy one between them.

But Cas doesn’t seem to see it as sappy. “And you’re okay with that?” he frowns.

That makes Dean frown in return. “Obviously.” When Cas still looks upset, Dean tries to explain. “It doesn’t make me feel any less like myself, Cas. Just makes me feel – balanced. Happy. Like things are as they should be.” He shrugs and as an afterthought he adds, “It’s okay if it’s not the same for you. You are the Alpha, after all.”

Cas shakes his head in an unwilling motion, like he wants to expels any evolution that made an Omega’s biology happy to follow their Alpha’s lead and didn’t build in the counter-reaction.

“Seriously, Cas, I don’t mind,” Dean repeats because there is no use at all in Cas stressing himself out over this. Cas loves him. That’s all Dean needs to know. It doesn’t matter whether his biology makes him need Cas a bit more than Cas needs him.

“Dean, it’s not…” Cas sighs and rubs his forehead before resolutely putting both hands on the steering wheel again. “It works differently for me. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel our bond.”

“How does it work for you then?” Dean asks curiously.

“It’s more like,” Cas thinks about it for a moment, obviously not good at putting it in words, either. “I get a rush whenever you’re happy, especially when it’s because of something I did. But I feel it more pronounced when we aren’t close. Either physically or emotionally. It’s, I don’t know, like we have a physical bond and it hurts when it gets stretched too far.” He puts a hand over his chest as if that’s the attachment point of the bond. “It’s a very good incentive to make sure to get closer to you again and make you happy.”

“Wow,” Dean says. “I think you got the shitty end of the deal after all.”

Cas shakes his head. “No, I didn’t. I got _you_.”

“Sap,” Dean answers, more by rote than anything, while he thinks about what Cas has said. “So if you break it down, my instincts do the hula hoop when being close to you and you feel when we drift apart?”

“Maybe that’s a bit simplistic. Both of our instincts work at keeping us together, even if it’s in a different way.”

“True,” Dean admits. And it’s not like he doesn’t feel it when Cas and he don’t have the time to spend quality time together. “So maybe it isn’t that selfish,” he concludes.

“What?”

“Keeping the heats. Maybe it isn’t that selfish. Because you get anxious and I get grumpy when we don’t have time together. Maybe they’re all happy about us getting it on for a few days and then coming back with a dopey smile,” Dean muses.

“I like that thought,” Cas smiles.

“Yeah, me too,” Dean smiles back. He yawns. “I might be a little tired after all.”

“Then sleep, Dean. It’s still almost an hour.”

“Maybe I’ll do that.” Dean yawns again and huddles up in his seat. He’s still not sure he can sleep in the car but he feels more settled now than he had been.

 

It’s a hand on his shoulder that wakes him up.

“Come on, Dean, wake up. We’re here,” Cas whispers.

“Hmm. What? Did the pups wake up?” Dean is slow in coming to.

“No, the _pup_ did not wake up yet. Which is why I’m whispering,” Cas whispers amused. “Now, can you maybe wake her while I get Jody?”

“Oh. Yes, okay.” Dean finally registers his surroundings and the fact that they are not in front of their own house.

“Thank you,” Cas murmurs and presses a quick kiss to Dean’s lips. Then he’s up and off to ring the doorbell.

Dean yawns and stretches before turning around. “Claire!”

She’s rolled herself into a ball as tightly as is possible in the car seat, holding the duffle bag they got her close.

“Claire, we’re here,” Dean tries again. He gets a slight stirring which he takes as a good sign. “Come on, you’re still a youngster, you should be more awake than me.”

She mumbles something incoherent and then wakes with a start, her eyes wide and fearful, her body instantly tense.  

“It’s okay, just me,” Dean tries to calm her down before he chokes on the rotting fruit smell.

“Where are we?” Claire asks.

“We’re at the Novak Pack. This is Jody’s and Donna’s house. They’re waiting for you.”

Claire’s eyes turn even wider and she holds the duffle with a grip so tight that her knuckles turn white.

“You don’t have to do this,” Dean says quietly. “You can go look at them and if you hate them, you tell me and you don’t have to stay here, okay?”

“She can help with my Mom?” Claire asks.

Dean nods. “She can help with your Mom.”

“And Alpha will tell her to help me, right?”

“Actually, I think Cas has already told her that.”

“Then I’ll stay,” Claire whispers, though it is toneless and the fear is still ripe in her scent.

But it doesn’t keep her from unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door. Dean follows and gets out of the car as well.

“Come on then,” he says.

Claire follows him half a step behind. He wants to stop and let her catch up, put his arm around her shoulders and comfort her. But he guesses the familiar position, the sense of being shielded by someone else, is what comfort she’ll find right now.

Cas and Jody are waiting for them at the door, both with a smile that is somewhat strained due to the circumstances.

“Hey Jody,” Dean greets her.

“Heya Dean,” she nods back. “And Claire.”

Claire doesn’t answer, just presses herself closer to Dean. It’s quite a change from the spitfire teen struggling to get away from Cas. But then, back then all she had to do was get away. Now she has to stay. Dean gets how that is infinitely harder.

He turns to lay an arm around her after all. She has her eyes firmly fixed to the ground, her face a ghostly white in the light from the porch lamp.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dean repeats in a low voice, the words only for Claire. “I swear.”

“We’ve made up a bed for you,” Jody says. “And actually, we have a little surprise for you, too,” she smiles and looks at Dean. “If you have a few minutes to come in.”

Dean looks from Jody to Cas and back. “Sure, I guess.”

“Good,” Jody nods and beckons them inside.

When Dean wants to wait for Cas to take the lead, Cas smiles and shakes his head. “You go ahead.”

Curiouser and curiouser. But Dean steps into the house, dragging Claire with him.

“Surprise!!!” A bright voice yells as soon as he steps into the kitchen. It’s Donna, her arms wide, her face stretched into a face splitting smile. Alex is standing beside her, looking purposefully bored and rolling her eyes before eyeing Claire somewhat suspiciously.

Dean’s eyes are drawn to the table, though. There is a pie. With a candle.

Jody comes up next to him. “Happy birthday, Dean,” she smiles.

“Holy f-,” Dean catches himself even before he sees the stern look from Jody. “Is it past midnight already?”

“It’s a quarter past, yes,” Cas nods. “Happy birthday, Dean.”

Dean lets go of Claire when Cas opens his arms for a hug.

“May it be the best year and only better ones to come after,” Cas whispers into his hair while hugging him tight and pressing a kiss to his temple.

Dean smiles. “Hey, it starts with pie, so I’m gonna say it’s a pretty damn awesome year already.”

“Dean!” Jody chides. “Language!”

“Right,” Dean says. “Sorry.” Though he’s sure that both Alex and Claire have much worse words in their repertoire than he has.

“Happy birthday, old man,” Alex smirks.

“Ey, watch it!” Dean chuckles. “I ain’t that old yet.”

“Well then blow out the candle so that we can have the pie!” Alex urges impatiently, forgetting to look bored for the moment.

“Don’t pester me, youngster,” Dean shoots back but he moves towards the table to blow out the candle.

“Yay, birthday cake!” Donna claps her hands excitedly. “Midnight snacks are the best.”

Jody rolls her eyes but she gets the knife to cut the pie. “It’s blueberry. I hope you like.”

“I can attest to it that Dean likes _any_ kind of pie,” Cas states gravely.

“True,” Dean nods laconically. “Come on, Claire, get rid of that duffle bag and sit down,” he tells her while he shrugs out of his own jacket and hangs it over a chair.

“I didn’t know it was your birthday,” Claire says.

“Well, it’s only been my birthday for fifteen minutes and I kind of forgot about it as well,” Dean answers. “But now there’s pie! Pie is great!”

Claire looks down at her duffle and nods silently. “Happy birthday,” she mumbles.

“It’s okay, kid,” Dean resists the urge to pet her hair and instead nudges her arm. “Sit down and enjoy the surprise.”

She does as she’s told, taking the chair to Dean’s right where Cas takes the one to his left. Jody and Donna make quick work of cutting and plating the pie and then they’re eating and recounting the adventures of their trip and Claire isn’t taking part in the stories but she’s munching her pie and every so often it looks like she’s almost smiling. So Dean thinks this is going well.   

He gets drowsy after the better part of an hour and puts a hand on Cas’ knee as a silent sign that it’s time to go.

Cas puts his hand over Dean’s and squeezes in understanding. He waits for a lull in the conversation, before stretching and saying, “This has been wonderful but it’s gotten late and we have pups that will wake us very early in the morning.”

Dean nods and turns to Claire. “Are you good here? You can come with us, you know.”

Claire looks from him to Jody and then down at her lap. “No, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

She nods.

“Okay.” He squeezes her arm in commiseration but that’s about all he can do.

Cas smiles at him, looking slightly helpless. He can help even less and he knows it. “You’ll let us know if you need anything, alright?”

Both Jody and Claire nod.

“Alright then,” Donna resolutely gets up from the table. “Alex, help your mother clear the table. Claire, I’ll give you the tour of the house and show you your room. Alpha, it was great to have you. Dean, have a good rest of your birthday.”

“Thanks, Donna,” Dean and Cas say simultaneously.

“We’ll see you soon,” Cas adds and then he’s walking towards the door.

“Take care,” Jody smiles at them.

“We will,” Dean nods, “you, too.”

He looks back at Claire one last time before following Cas out.

“That was a sweet surprise,” Cas says when they’re back in the car.

“Like it was a surprise for you,” Dean snorts.

Cas shrugs noncommittally but when Dean raises his eyebrows, he gives in. “Claire needed to get to know them. We couldn’t just deliver her like a package.”

Admittedly, this is true. Also, this was one of the rare surprises that Dean is one hundred percent good with. “That was very sweet of you, little Alpha.”

Cas huffs.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re still the big bad Alpha, even when you’re all sweet and fluffy,” Dean grins.

“I’m not fluffy,” Cas says indignantly.

In answer, Dean ruffles his hair.

“I regret my life choices,” Cas grumbles.

“No, you don’t,” Dean says fondly.

“No, I don’t,” Cas gives in and because they’re in front of their home, Cas turns off the engine and turns to Dean to give him a quick kiss before asking, “Want to go in see whether the little munchkins are sleeping or whether they’re driving Sam and Eileen insane?”

“Yeah,” Dean says. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Their travel destination is based on Ruby Falls in Tennessee. Now I’ve never really specified where Dean and Cas live and I want to leave it that way, so you can assume it’s either that waterfall or one that is in road-trip distance from wherever you have placed their pack in your mind. I chose Ruby Falls because I’ve actually been there. It’s lovely and worth the visit. And Lookout Mountain is pretty awesome, too. (The seven states thing really is false advertisement, though.)


End file.
